Apparatus for producing notes and sounds of amusical character



March 13, 1951 p, p PATTYN APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING NOTES AND SOUNDS OF A MUSICAL CHARACTER Filed June 15, 1949 INVENTOR. I 3 71 M M ATTORNEY 5 Patented Mar. 13, 1951 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING NOTES AND SOUNDS OF A MUSICAL CHARACTER Pierre P. Pattyn, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Modern Products Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application June 15, 1949, Serial No. 99,233

6 Claims.

This invention relatesytoapparatus forproducing notes and sounds of a musical character.

In instruments wherein musical notes and sounds are reproduced electrically, considerable difiiculty has been encountered heretofore in reproducing the live or natural sound. It has been demonstrated that a note or sound produced vocally or with an instrument while representing a true tone to the musical ear, is lacking in mathematically correct qualities. This can be clearly and practically demonstrated by playing a 78 R. P. M. phonograph recording at a slow speed, such as 33 R. P. M.

Each note or sound produced on a natural instrument represents three distinct cycles, first an acceleration cycle wherein the vibrations start from zero and accelerate to maximum, second, the tone cycle wherein the vibrations are at maximum, third, the deceleration. cycle wherein the vibrations reduce or taper off to zero. The length of each cycle may vary according to the instrument and sound produced thereby, but a graphic reproduction of the note or sound will clearly show the cyclic periods of the note or sound. It has been photographically shown that a musical tone which is alive and true in a musical sense, is complex and irregular. A mathematically correct tone is at once synthetic, harsh, and lacking in the human or personal touch characteristics.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to produce apparatus which will reproduce the three tone cycles mentioned above so that the music will be basically alive and lacking in synthetic characteristics.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tone or sound reproducing unit which is simple in construction and will occupy a relatively small space.

A further object of this invention is to provide a tone or sound reproducing unit which is capable of reproducing staccato or sustained notes or tones.

A further object of this invention is to provide a tone or sound reproducing unit which may be encased in a protective housing so that the magnetized tape will not be affected by atmospheric conditions.

A further object of this invention is to provide a unit of this-kind which is normally inactive and which is made active upon closing of an electric circuit, with the lag in the starting of the first cycle capable of very close adjustment.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawing and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a detail side elevation, partly in section and partly diagrammatic, of a reproducing unit constructed according to anembodiment of this invention,

Figure 2 is a plan view, partly'broken away, of the unit,

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the acceleration and deceleration of the sound Wave as herein reproduced.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral l0 designates generally a base which has disposed thereabove a pair of grooved wheels or rollers H and l2. The roller or wheel 12 is carried by an upstanding mounting l3 and is rotatably disposed on a shaft I4 carried by the mounting l3.

The wheel or roller H is rotatably carried by a shaft l5 which is secured to an upstanding lever l6 mounted on a pivot IT. The pivot I1 is carried by an upstanding mounting i8 which is fixed to the base H) at the end thereof opposite from the mounting l3. The lever 16 is adapted to normally engage an adjustable stop 19, the purpose for which will be hereinafter described.

The endless web or band 20 engages about the rollers or Wheels H and l2 and is preferably constructed of paper or othernon-magnetic material and has embedded therein metal particles 2| which are magnetized and carry selected notes or tones.

An electro-magnetic pickup member 22 is fixedly carried by an upstanding standard or mounting 23 which is fixed to the base Ill, and the pickup member 22 is disposed between the two wheels or rollers H and 12. The web or band 2!] is maintained substantially taut by means of a roller or pulley 24 carried by a lever 25, rockably mounted on a pivot 26 which is secured to an upstanding standard or mounting 21. The roller or pulley 24 is adapted to gravitatingly maintain the web or band 20 substantially taut so that the web or band 20 will be moved over the top of the electro-magnetic member 22 when the roller or wheel H which is the driving wheel or roller, is rotated.

The roller or wheel H has secured thereto a grooved driving pulley 28 having a friction ring 29 mounted thereon, disposed in a position to selectively engage a rotating drive shaft 30 connected with an electric motor 3|. The electro-magnetic member 22 is connected by a pair of conductors 32 and 33 to'an audio amplifier 34 of conventional construction, and the ampli fier 34 is connected by conductors 35 and 36 to a loud speaker 31 which is also of conventional construction.

The upper end of rock lever l6, designated by the numeral 38, constitutes an armature disposed in confronting position to an electro-magnetic member 39 having a core 40 confronting the armature 38. A rubber cushion member or cap M is mounted on the outer end of the core 40 which is adapted to be engaged by a lug 42 which is carried by the upper end of armature 38. The cushion member 4! is provided so that there will be no metallic click or noise when armature 38 is drawn toward core 4t and lug 42 is moved toward core 40.

Electro-magnetic member 39 is connected by means of conductors 43 and 44 to a switch 45, the latter being interposed in conductor M, and the switch 45 is constructed in the form of a stationary and movable contact which is actuated by depressing of the instrument key. As shown in Figure 1, the driving member 29 is normally disposed out of engagement with driving shaft 30. When switch 45 is closed to energize electro-magnetic member 39, rock lever it will be swung to the right so that friction ring 29 will engage shaft so. At this time the web or band 28 will be moved over electro-magnetic pickup member 22 which is normally in circuit with audio amplifier 34. The note or tone carried by the magnetized particles 21 will thereby be communicated to amplifier 34'. and will be heard from loud speaker 37.

In Figure 3 there is graphically depicted the cyclic stage of a note or tone shOWiIlg the first or acceleration cycle in which the tone is built up, the second or tone cycle in Which the tone vibrations are at maximum, and the third cycle in which the tone or sound decelerates or decays to zero.

It will be understood that there will be as many of these bands and pickup units as there are notes to be reproduced, and in actual practice there may be at least eighty-four of such units which are all connected to the audio amplifier so that any one of selected groups of the pickup members may be actuated to reproduce the desired music.

I do not mean to confine myself to the exact details of construction herein disclosed, but claim all variations falling within the purview of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A music reproducing means comprising a pair of wheels disposed in spaced relation, 3, base, a fixed mounting for one of said wheels carried by said base, a rockable mounting for the other of said wheels carried by said base, an endless magnetized tape engaging over said wheels havingupper and lower runs, a drive wheel fixed relative to one of said pair of wheels, a drive shaft, el-ectro-magnetic means correlated with said rockable mounting for swinging said drive wheel into contact with said drive shaft, gravity actuated means engaging one run of said tape for maintaining the latter substantially taut, and an electro-magnetic pickup carried by said base between said wheels and engaging the other run of said tape for activation by the latter.

2. A music reproducing means comprising a pair of wheels disposed in spaced relation, a base, a fixed mounting for one of said wheels carried by said base, a rockable mounting for the other of said wheels carried by said base, a magnetized fibrous tape engaging over said wheels, a drive wheel fixed relative to one of said pair of wheels, a drive shaft, electro-magnetic means correlated with said rockable mounting for swinging said drive wheel into engagement with said drive shaft, an idler wheel engaging said tape for holding the latter substantially taut, and an electromagnetic pickup carried by said base and engaging said tape or activation by the latter.

3. A music reproducing means comprising an endless fibrous tape having magnetized metal particles embedded therein, means supporting said tape for movement, an operator for said tape, a stationary electro-magnetic pickup disposed in contacting relation relative to said tape, and electro-magnetic means for connecting said tape with said operator, said latter named means including a sound absorbing element.

4. A music reproducing means comprising an endless fibrous tape having magnetized metal particles embedded therein, means supporting said tape for movement, an operator for said tape, a stationary electro-magnetic pickup disposed in contacting relation relative said tape, gravity operated means for maintaining said tap substantially taut, and electro-magnetic means for connecting said tape with said operator, said latter named means including a sound absorbing element.

5. A sound producing unit comprising a base, a pair of grooved wheels, a mounting for one of said wheels fixed to said base, an upright lever pivotally secured at its lower end to said base, a shaft carried by said lever engaging through the other of said wheels, an endless magnetized tape engaging about said wheels and having upper and lower runs, an idler wheel swingably carried by said base engaging the lower tape run for holding said tape substantially taut, an electro-magnetic pickup engaging the upper run of said tape between said wheels, a drive wheel fixed to the other of said pair of wheels, a rotatable operator confronting said drive wheel and normally spaced therefrom, the weight of said idler wheel normally holding said drive wheel disengaged from said operator, an armature carried by the upper end of said lever, and an electro-magnetic member confronting said armature adapted upon energization thereof to rock said lever forwardly to engage said drive wheel with said operator and thereby effect movement of said tape.

6. A sound producing unit comprising a base, a pair of grooved wheels, a mounting for one of said wheels fixed to said base, an upright lever pivotally secured at its lower end to said base, a shaft carried by said lever engaging through the other of said wheels, an endless magnetized tape engaging about said wheels and having upper and lower runs, an idler wheel swingably carried by said base engaging the lower tape run for holding said tape substantially taut, an elec tro-magnetic pickup engaging the upper run of said tape between said wheels, a drive wheel fixed to the other of said pair of wheels, a rotatable operator confronting said drive wheel and normally spaced therefrom, the weight of said idler wheel normally holding said drive wheel disengaged from said operator, an armature carried by the upper end of said lever, an electro-magnetic member confronting said armature adapted upon energization thereof to rock said lever forwardly to engage said drive wheel with said operator and thereby effect movement of said tape, and a cushion member carried by said armature for eliminating the sound normally caused by contact of the latter with said electro-magnetic member. PIERRE P. PATTYN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,232,486 Smith Feb. 18, 1941 2,431,646 Kenney Nov. 25, 1947 

